I installed an aftermarket cruise control on my 2008 Corolla with an automatic transmission. It only cost $38 USD for the parts and was a fairly simple install. Note that this procedure applies to all GEN 9 Corollas equipped with an automatic transmission and a “drive by wire” throttle. It is my understanding that Toyota started using “drive by wire” throttle on the GEN 9 Corolla’s some time in 2005. Take a look at the photo below.

If you see a wiring harness (red arrow) at the top of your gas pedal lever, as shown above, then your Corolla utilizes “drive by wire” for the throttle, and this cruise control switch will work on your GEN 9 Corolla. If you have a manual transmission, in addition to this procedure, it will also be necessary to install a clutch switch. I have read on the internet that the clutch switch is Toyota part number 88280-14030 and is a simple plug and play as well.

Disclaimer Use this guide at your own risk! I assume no responsibility for any damage to your vehicle or personal injury as a result of following this guide. Any comments to improve the procedure will be gratefully received and incorporated where possible.

Time RequiredIt took me 2.5 hours from start to finish, including time to take photos and make notes. If I had to do it again, I think I could reasonably pare this down to 1.5 hours.

[UPDATE: OCT. 11, 2010] Thanks to TN forum member bigmamou who wrote in to indicate that the ACDELCO D1919E cruise control switch is also available from Amazon.com. I checked the price today and it is selling for $36.50 with free shipping.

Special Tools:a) T-30 Torx driverb) Dremel tool

Let's get started...

1. Disconnect the cable from the positive (red) terminal of the battery using a 10mm wrench. Be very careful not to touch anything metal with the wrench when doing this or you will short out the battery through the wrench. Note that you will lose all pre-programmed radio channels with the battery disconnected, so you may want to write them down prior to disconnecting the battery. Also, if you have a security system, it may not like it when you disconnect the battery. Consult your security system owner’s manual.

[UPDATE: OCT. 2011] Thanks to TN forum member jkg065 who advised that you must wait 90 seconds after disconnecting the battery to prevent accidental discharge of the airbag

[UPDATE: JAN 15, 2015] Thanks to TN forum member TigerHeli, it is much safer to remove the negative battery cable than the positive battery cable. Why? If the wrench you are using to remove the positive battery cable touches any bare metal under the hood while you are doing this, there is enough current available to burn the wrench in half. If, on the other hand, the wrench you using to remove the negative battery cable touches any bare metal under the hood, nothing happens. For that reason, I recommend that you remove the negative battery cable instead.

2. Remove the two Torx head screws that secure the airbag assembly to the steering wheel hub. Use a T-30 Torx driver bit. The screws are located on either side of the steering wheel. Pull the screws out. I used a needle nose pliers to pull the screws out. It was a bit hard to grip the heads of the Torx screws with the needle nose pliers and it took a bit of wiggling to get them out.

[UPDATE: May 6, 2013] I just installed another cruise control stalk today in a friend's vehicle and found it difficult to pull the screws out. There are plastic tabs molded into the steering wheel cover which "snap" into a circular groove machined in the outside diameter of the two Torx screws to hold the screws in place. See the above photo. I found that it was only necessary to loosen the two Torx screws and then gently pry the plastic steering wheel cover down to remove the airbag assembly. This is much easier than trying to pull the screws out with a needle nose pliers.

[UPDATE: Dec. 27, 2013] Here is what TNforum member therick commented...Loosening the torx screws and then gently prying back the plastic steering housing near the torx screw worked perfectly for me. Popped right off and left the screws in place. Those torx screws were super tight though. I had to use a wrench on my driver to get extra leverage to get started.

3. Pull the airbag assembly out of the steering wheel hub and gently set it down on top of the steering wheel.

4. Slide the horn ground wire off of the spade connector and squeeze the black plug to remove it.

5. Place the above connector, side by side with the connector from the new cruise control switch. You need to transfer the green wire to the connector on the cruise control switch.

6. Remove the white wire lock from both connectors. This can be done by prying upward on the side of the connector.

[UPDATE Dec. 27, 2013]: Thanks to TN Member therick who wrote....Slow, steady and gentle when removing the horn wire. I had to push a push pin in all the way before it would release.

7. Remove the green wire ferrule from the connector. This is easier said than done. If you have some understanding of Mate Lock connectors, then it is easier to remove the ferrule. There is a metal spring tab that locks the ferrule into the plastic connector (see the red arrow in step 8 below). To release the ferrule, you need to push the barb down, while pulling the wire out of the connector. To do this, insert a push pin in the tiny hole directly above the larger hole where the ferrule is inserted. The red arrow above shows where to insert the push pin. Once the push pin is inserted, pry the ferrule out of the connector with a small slot screwdriver as shown above.

8. This what the ferrule looks like. Bend the barb (red arrow) upward so that the ferrule will lock when it is inserted into the new connector. Insert the green wire ferrule into the cruise control switch connector beside the red wire as shown. Snap the white wire lock back into position.

9. Using a grease pencil, mark the opening in the steering wheel cover. I measured a co-worker’s Vibe to get the above dimensions. The opening is approximately 26mm (1”) x 26mm (1”). The 30 mm dimension (1 1/8”) is from the ridge on the plastic molding, NOT the edge of the plastic molding. I approximately centered the square cut-out, but later found out that I should have biased it downward by about ½”. See step 12.

10. Drill ¼” diameter holes in the four corners.

11. Using a Dremel tool with a spriral cutter (similar to Rotozip drywall bit), cut out the square opening. I took a practice run with a smaller cut out first to get a better feel for the tool. It tends to drift, so you have to hold it very steady when cutting. I found it easier to cut clockwise around the opening. When I cut counter-clockwise, the bit had a greater tendency to drift outward. Don’t penetrate too deeply with the bit or you will start to cut the aluminum casting inside the steering wheel hub.

12. Temporarily mount the cruise control switch and push the lever up, down, and forward to simulate all motions.. As you can see, I cut the opening about ½” too high. I ended up cutting another ¼” off the bottom of the opening and this was just enough to clear the switch.

[UPDATE: Dec 27, 2013] For those of you who wish to cut a circular hole and install a rubber grommet for a "cleaner" looking install, please read this advice from TN member therick....I too used the "5/16 x 1 1/8 OD x 23/32 ID (grommet), available at Lowes" for my install and hand cranked a hole with a 1" spade. If I had it to do over I would have gone with the next grommet size up and used a 1.5" spade. I also would have measured three times and cut once... I missed by probably a quarter inch and so I didn't have full motion on the cruise lever. I had to disassemble and practically double the size of the hole.

Unless you are very sure of yourself just go with the bigger hole and grommet -- I would have been much better off aesthetically with a bigger hole than I am now with a mangled steering wheel housing.

13. You could use two #10 x 1/2" self tapping screws to secure the cruise control switch. I ended up tapping the two aluminum mounting holes with a 10-24NC tap and used two Allen head button cap screws. The screws were ½” long.

[UPDATE: Dec. 27, 2013] TNmember therick used self tapping screws and here is what he had to say...I went with the phillips head self tapping stainless #10 x 1/2". 10 in a bag screws from Lowes and they worked like a charm.

14. Vacuum up all plastic and aluminum shavings, clean up the edges of the cut-out with some emery cloth, and mount the cruise control switch.

15. Plug in the plastic connector and re-attach the green ground wire to the spade terminal.

16. Replace the air bag assembly and install the two Torx screws. Tighten the screws.

17. Reconnect the battery cable. Re-program radio channels. Press the horn to make sure that it works. Start the car. Press the cruise button and voila – the green cruise light illuminates in the instrument cluster! Very nice!!!

Take the car for a drive and test all of the functions of the cruise control. I found that the engine idled really low (600 rpm) at first. I think the computer may have been in some sort of learning mode. This corrected itself after a 10-15 minute drive in the city and on the highway.

Enjoy your new cruise control!

EDIT: After some more thorough testing, I discovered that the Rock Auto cruise control switch does have the Accelerate and Coast feature. They are just not marked on the stalk.

Excellent DIY! So this mod except for disconnecting the pos (+) side of the battery, moving the green wire does not involve any fuses or electrical work and should be a plug in to an CE, LE, etc? What about danger of activating the airbag even with the battery disconnected? Thank you.

Excellent DIY! So this mod except for disconnecting the pos (+) side of the battery, moving the green wire does not involve any fuses or electrical work and should be a plug in to an CE, LE, etc? What about danger of activating the airbag even with the battery disconnected? Thank you.

jkg065 - No fuses. Transfering the green wire is the only electrical work. It is plug and play on the CE (that is what I have). I am 99% sure it is plug and play on the LE too. As far as the airbag is concerned, I am pretty certain that disconnecting the battery eliminates the danger of the airbag activating - but not 100% sure. Maybe someone else on TN with more knowledge can chime in on this point. To be certain, you could call your local Toyota dealership and ask them.

If you are interested to purchase the cruise control switch from Rock Auto, click on the link below for instructions on how to receive a 5% discount on any Rock Auto purchase.

jkg065 - No fuses. Transfering the green wire is the only electrical work. It is plug and play on the CE (that is what I have). I am 99% sure it is plug and play on the LE too. As far as the airbag is concerned, I am pretty certain that disconnecting the battery eliminates the danger of the airbag activating - but not 100% sure. Maybe someone else on TN with more knowledge can chime in on this point. To be certain, you could call your local Toyota dealership and ask them.

If you are interested to purchase the cruise control switch from Rock Auto, click on the link below for instructions on how to receive a 5% discount on any Rock Auto purchase.

Exage - Do you have OEM cruise? If so, is it equipped with the Accel/Decel feature. I actually use that a feature a lot on the Camry and it would be nice to have on the Corolla too.

Yes it has the OEM cruise and it has the Accel/Decel feature with +/- 1MPH (1.6KPH) increments. However, that being said I haven't used it yet, so I don't know if it works, I'm always on busy highways or in the city.

Yes it has the OEM cruise and it has the Accel/Decel feature with +/- 1MPH (1.6KPH) increments. However, that being said I haven't used it yet, so I don't know if it works, I'm always on busy highways or in the city.

As far as I recall, the cruise control switch used as part of this DIY is the same as the switch that came from the factory on my '07 LE. It doesn't say "RES / ACC", it just says "+ RES" and "- SET". I don't know when they changed, but that switch is the same as the OE switch for the 2007 model year.

So the RockAuto one does not have to be "turned on" after initially tapping your brakes, say cruising at 70 mph? The factory one has the automatic resume where you just accelerate without touching the switch stalk, Thanks JasonA.

So the RockAuto one does not have to be "turned on" after initially tapping your brakes, say cruising at 70 mph? The factory one has the automatic resume where you just accelerate without touching the switch stalk, Thanks JasonA.

It shouldn't. Whether the switch is a Rockauto switch or an OEM Toyota switch, shouldn't make any difference. The brains of the operation are performed by the car's ECU. The switch should have an "on/off" button at the end of the stalk. You should be able to pull it towards you, for "cancel". And you should be able to push it up or down.

The up/down activity will depend on the situation. If your cruise is already engaged, pressing it up will tap you up one MPH. Pressing it down will tap you down one MPH. If your cruise is not already engaged, pressing up should have no effect, but pressing down will set the cruise speed.

Again, all the switch does is tell the computer what input you're requesting. The functionality is controlled by the ECU. You could replace the stalk end with a piece of PVC pipe, and all the functionality would still exist (well, except for the on/off button).

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